Anyone Else Hear a Tone/Tuning Fork Sound? And Get Woken Up by Their Noise?

Hi All

I've had a continual sound in my left ear for 4 years that sounds exactly like a tuning fork which a doctor uses. God its loud – day and night.

I’ve struggled to get off to sleep most nights and some nights I just don’t get any sleep which eventually takes a toll on me physically.

I’ve had all the testing done and my hearing and MRI were normal. I was told to just ignore it, use masking, take sleeping pills or try TRT, CBT and/or relaxation strategies.

I’ve done all that and none of it has really helped, so I often sit and think to myself well what am I meant to do or what the hell am I doing wrong then.

I thought that time would have helped, or that over time the noise would have become less intrusive and bothersome. However, that has happened which is frustrating because I can’t even get the noise to change at all (for better or worse).

I lie in bed most nights thinking how the hell can I not notice or ignore this sound (like the doctor and audiologist suggest) when it is so loud – and even when I don’t think about it it’s there and prevents me from falling asleep. I remember the first month I got it, I spent each night walking around my neighbourhood because I was trying to figure out which neighbour or what machine was making the awful noise - that’s how loud it is.

I’m also shocked that sleeping pills don’t always knock me out– I always thought that if you took sleeping pills you were guaranteed to knock out.

I was just curious:

1) Does anyone else have a tuning fork sound?

Because most people I seem to speak with say that they hear static, hissing, fluttering, cicadas, their heartbeat or ringing like when you walk out of a nightclub, and they say that they can get off to sleep and that it doesn’t wake them up. I’ve experienced ringing from a nightclub but the tuning fork sound is nothing like that. I’m yet to speak to someone who pretty much says they hear a tuning fork or horn to see how they cope. I even noticed that most people have described their tinnitus as a ‘ssssss’ or ‘eeeeee’ which made me start to wonder if all types of tinnitus eventually start to sound like a ‘sssss’ or an ‘eeee’ to the individual, which I think makes it hard then to understand but also convey what one is hearing and whether it is different to what someone else is hearing. Because I myself would have described static, hissing, cicadas and ringing all differently.

2) Does anyone else get woken up by their tinnitus?

If I do manage to fall asleep I will eventually be woken up by the tinnitus – it’s like an alarm clock buzzing which I find can be a rather traumatic experience when it constantly happens. Some people have told me that this is just my body becoming conditioned to waking up and I get annoyed by that because I am literally woken up by the ringing tuning fork.

3) How do others with severe tinnitus get sleep and function/work?


Appreciate your help
Brett

 

In regards to question one:

I would describe my ‘main’ tinnitus tone as a tune fork sound as well. It’s not particularly high pitched so its masked somewhat easily but when in (semi)silence it drives me absolutely insane.

25 Minutes of 528Hz Tuning Fork Sound for...

Turns out some people listen to this type of sound for relaxation

As for the sound waking you up, is there a specific time you wake up on a regular basis? I wonder how it would wake you up as I assume the sound is unchanging throughout the night. Perhaps during the phase of ‘lighter’ sleeping your auditory system can’t ignore the sound any longer and will wake you up. I’ve heard people being helped by melatonin.

Oh and also, I’m sad to hear you wonder wether you’re ‘doing something wrong’ that is causing you to have a hard time dealing with it. Everyone is different, some people cope within 6 months and for others it may take years. What works for others may unfortunately not work for us/you. That doesn’t mean it has anything to do with you doing anything wrong. Please be gentle with yourself. I wish you all the best <3 pm me anytime

 

Thank you for your reply Lynny.

 

Mine is kinda more variable than a tuning fork.. Similar but mixed with morse code.. But that is a quite minor problem compared to the somatic brain ringing I get each night which is infinitely more loud. I can only hear my real tone about 12 hours after I wake up and the inflammation from the night has calmed down.

 

@tterb1978

Yes, my T sounds like a steady tone from a tuning fork, although not as high pitched.

Sleep can be a challenge. Melatonin helped at bedtime, as did earplugs during sleep. Also, green tea at bedtime seems to help as well.

 

Came across turning fork tinnitus several times after years of reviewing thousands of sciencedirect and other professional studies.

1. Certain medications - Thyroid meds and meds ending with 'cin' most common, but sometimes a high pitch turning fork sound will disappear once med is discontinued.

2. A nerve in the neck. Nerve could be up against the c spine or twisted. Physical therapy may help, but a nerve out of position may not show on a MRI. Nerve conduction studies may find problem nerve. Also the sternocleidomastoid muscle may be off balance to the one on the other side. One side of the SCM may be shorter than the other. Often to tell if this may be a problem is to look into a wall mirror and see if the shoulders are balanced. If not, then the trapezius muscles may also have involvement.

3. Eustachian tube - Air being let into the middle ear behind the eardrum. E tube needs to be opened so that air travels normally to the middle ear. Usually a high pitch fork sound from this is not constant.

 

Hey Thank You everyone for your replies. I feel a bit better/relieved to know that it’s not just me and that I’m not the only person who is hearing a tuning fork.

Foam – I’m curious to know a bit more about inflammation? What do you mean by this – how does it affect tinnitus? What causes the inflammation? How do you tell if you have it? How do you get rid of it?

I have always wondered if I have some sort of inflammation in my ear somewhere and whether this is the culprit for the tuning fork sound, but I was told no and that everything was fine.

I recently took some aspirin and it actually decreased my noise significantly – I read aspirin is an anti-inflammatory. It is true though that aspirin induces tinnitus because this other tinnitus sound appeared after I took the aspirin which sounded a lot like the sound of an aspro clear dissolving in water.

Also, you know when you say your tuning fork is variable and has a morse code mixed in --- would you say it sounds like a mosquito flying towards and then away from your ear, or like someone blowing into a recorder/flute on and off really quickly? Because I have experienced this.



Greg Sacramento – Thank You for that info. Really appreciate it.

Is there anyone I could see specifically to see about my SCM? Would it be a physio, osteopath, chiro or a GP?

I’m also curious Greg if you know anything about the following, or have any opinions?

1) If I put my finger in my right ear and jiggle it around, it will aggravate the noise in my left ear and make it louder. I Find that weird – given that I can affect the ‘tinnitus’ I have in my left ear via my right ear.

2) When I get tired and yawn the tuning fork sound gets really loud and mainly around my left cheekbone and the area in front of my ear. I started questioning if my problem might be TMJ/TMD related. I had an xray and it said there was no issue but I have seen some people on forums say xrays are useless for diagnosing TMJ/TMD. Should I see a maxofacial surgeon?

3) If my tinnitus ever calms down it can sometimes sound like what I mentioned above to Foam – if you were to blow short and low into a recorder/flute every 2 seconds. Maybe in a repeated pattern of 1, 2. First blow is single then next blow is 2 single blows together. Filtered noise on audionotch at 1000hz volume 25% sounds a bit like what I put up with too. You ever heard of anything like that or the causes of that tinnitus?

https://www.audionotch.com/app/tune/

 

@tterb1978 From reading what you wrote above it may be the buccal branch of the facial nerve, maybe from the parotid which caused an infection. A near (very slight) condition to trismus (spasm of jaw muscles) as you yawn from infection. This can also associate to your SCM that I mentioned and the effect of all this is the chorda tympani that runs through the middle ear and the inner ear. A pressurized facial muscle infection or certain medications can cause high pitch sharp toned tinnitus (non somatic). All that may be needed is to clear infection.

When this started did you recently before have dental work done?
Was your MRI of neck or head?
Read last article on right side only for anatomy association, but dismiss cancer. You would not have cancer. You probably have infection.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/buccal-branch-of-the-facial-nerve

 

Mine is the exact same. A lower toned version which muffles a little as If somebody is waving the fork around

Do you find relief if you lay on your side and dig your shoulder in behind your ear? Does it tend to lower on volume?

 

How do infections at this site occur? Can they be caused by tonsillitis? I had a little bit of push on the right side of my tonsil same time ringing has started. I also had an almost life threatening infection under a wisdom tooth flap last year, was a while ago but could my tinnitus that just started this month be some sort of infection due to that?

 

@Lulu187 Tonsillitis can cause tinnitus especially for females age 40 -49 according to a health statistic site that I use. Infection under a wisdom teeth flap can also cause tinnitus. It's possible that tonsillitis is solely responsible for your tinnitus. Amoxicillin might help resolve your T, if you still have infection and it's usually does not cause or increase tinnitus. Antibiotics that end in 'cin' can cause tinnitus. Your T may also resolve on it's own.

 

Nothing I can do will change the volume or tone of the morse code in my ear but it is lowering per week (slowly) we are talking maybe 10% volume per week. I had _incredibly_ sore wisdom teeth about a week after my tinnitus started and the pain extended all the way up the bones of my skull behind my ears. But I can't say if that was an infection or stress induced.. Either way they don't hurt at the moment. What I can change the volume of markedly is the somatic ringing in my brain, that I can change with the left jaw joint or neck (real tinnitus morse code and somatic ringing are biased to the left also). Every night when I sleep the brain ringing increases as the night goes on then decreases during the day. I don't need a clock to know when it's 9pm anymore because at 9pm exactly the brain ringing completely stops within 10 minutes. Makes me think that part of it is tied into the body clock/hormones/ brain receptors

 

@foam Some get a classic neck and jaw somatic tinnitus from forward head movements - bending head down. Computer use for example can cause several muscles in your neck and shoulders to spasm where it can then become be difficult to keep head positioned up. Forward head posture - the muscles within the back can also tighten neck muscles. Tight neck muscles can straighten the C spine and place the C1 and C2 very slightly out of place and cause jaw problems. Fatigue jaw muscles pressing off and on tender disc and joints - tapping tinnitus or PT if steroids are being used which can cause blood sugar imbalance and sugar metabolism fatigue which also can increase jaw disc weakness.

 

I've been on steroids for some 5 years, I've been wondering if they finally jacked my brain up. My tinnitus started after 2-3 week of carb binging after a long time in ketosis.. Something went completely out of whack in my brain/upper neck nerves. I'm also a heavy computer user.. So yeah combination of all this I guess. I've not had a good tolerance of carbohydrates since pretty much.. forever. Or at least 30 years. I had an xray done a couple of weeks ago and C1 was tilted, 2 and 3 were OK, 4,5 had a big kink. The guy said while laying down it wasn't so bad but standing up it all went crooked.

 

Hey Thanks very much Greg for the info - i really appreciate it.
I didn't have any dental work done prior. My MRI was only of the head so i'll look into getting one for my neck. In your experience/opinion is Amoxicillin the best medication for treating an infection --- and is it possible for an infection to linger for 4 years?

 

On two or three occasions over 4 years when i lied really flat and on my side the noise in my left ear was more bearable. But i've tried to replicate it several more times without success. Someone waving a tuning fork around though is what i hear - like they just wave it back and forth or in a circle. I hate the whine bits that get really high at times.

 

Most viral infections are for life.. and herpes zoster lives right there in your nervous system.. That's something to consider

 

@foam When one has both somatic neck/jaw tinnitus (no thumping or hum), but also have a tone that breaks up - then this often connects what we discussed in our two posts above. Low blood glucose levels caused from steroids which causes muscle weakness, occipital nerve tension (top of neck) and bone weakness. It is often seen at C1 and C4 and C5. This is both cause and effect (long term steroids use) and with/from head bending. I would suspect that there's a small build up of calcium or vitamin D at C4 and C5. Your trapezius muscles in shoulders may need gentle massage after bending body and head forward for an extended period of time.

Fluids with having a meal may be a simple solution that might counter some of the steroid muscle effects.
Melon is good, especially cut up watermelon.
I would think that you are depleting magnesium which is needed for muscles and tinnitus - even more so for typewriter T or morse code.

Take a look at this article and notice that prednisone is mentioned. Also look at MISC at bottom of link.
https://www.jigsawhealth.com/blog/drug-muggers-suzy-cohen-magnesium/
The condition as to why you use steroids may need to be considered before using magnesium Glycinate, NAC and Vitamin C. Magnesium and/or NAC if you can use should be taken after eating.

For your neck besides trying to control extreme head bending. Very gentle stretching neck upwards with shoulders relaxed. This alone may relieve some of the somatic T. Watch a video for proper movement.

 

@tterb1978 "In your experience/opinion is Amoxicillin the best medication for treating an infection --- and is it possible for an infection to linger for 4 years?"

YES - infection can last a long time. Amoxicillin isn't the best, but most others that work better are not friends with tinnitus.

 

Thanks Greg fantastic post ! The chiropractor said my bone density looks like someone that has never been on steroids but on the other hand I take _alot_ of vitamin D over winter and looking back.. I probably over did it this last winter. Also being on keto most of the time you can be sure I was low in magnesium.. I've been taking heaps of it since the tinnitus started though.

 

I have something like this at 2300Hz in my left ear. It was caused by piercing feedback through a concert sound system.

Usually it's a steady tone of D5. But if i play a D5 piano note repeatedly, it slides down a semitone. If I hit that note it slides down again another semitone. And if I yawn or turn over in bed I get multiple tones.

I've recently discovered that, when this happens, I can make all but the original D5 tone disappear after several deep diaphragmatic breathes.

Very bizarre!

 

My ringing gos from an 8 down to a 2 when I dig my shoulder in behind my right ear. It's very strange. I'm at 3 and a half weeks from onset now. My ringing is at its lightest between 3pm and 6pm.

Have you tried chiro?

On 2nd day of only 25mg pred for ringing but after thorough research I am going to stop based on the fact that its ototoxic and with many side effects. I'll also direct my attention toward psilocybin some good evidence out there,and other natural anti inflammatory goodies

 

That's interesting to know. I'm sure it's possible that it could happen to someone like me in my 20s also. I think I may have taken the wrong approach to treatment. I begged the ent for prednisone only took 25mg for the last 2 days but that might be enabling the tonsillitis to get worse. Do you think i could treat the tonsillitis naturally with garlic and other natural supps instead of antibiotics. I'm that scared of ototoxicity now, that I want to go completely natural. You could be right about the tonsillitis.

Can you find any other academic research on the links between tonsillitis and tinnitus?

 

Thanks everyone for your feedback and the info. It really helps.

Greg - could arthritis in the neck cause tinnitus? I got an xray done this morning and that was noted (i think it said around c5/c6).

 

@Lulu187 Prednisone could worsen things if there's sore in the mouth, but you wouldn't have the type of sores that would be of concern at your age. Tonsil stones and tonsillitis usually only causes temporary tinnitus. Garlic could help. Salt and hot water is always best for natural treatment with any oral infection.

Not many cases reported.
https://www.ehealthme.com/cs/tonsillitis/tinnitus/

 

Not often, unless:
1. Blood flow to the ears is greatly increased.
2. From compressed or pressured nerves in the area of arthritis. I doubt that is a problem for you without having sharp pain and somatic T that rises or decreases when moving neck.
3. If the arthritis travels to the jaw. You would need off and on jaw pain.

The key: Besides also having arthritis in the jaw - how to tell if tinnitus is really being caused by arthritis is when having a difficult time writing. Using your hands. Of course the hands does not cause tinnitus, but if writing skills are a problem, then neck arthritis may be bad enough to cause tinnitus. In other words for neck arthritis to bad enough to cause tinnitus, then there's usually some arthritis in the hands and the jaw as well.

 

Thanks Greg - you're a legend.

 

Tuning Fork
https://eustachiantubedysfunction.blogspot.com/2011/03/are-suffering-from-blocked-ear-reduced.html

 

I am going to give you my personal perspective to my own circumstances. I have begun to hear a tuning fork in my left ear for a few months now. It the beginning it was static pulsing with the tuning fork coming online in and out, then it became louder and more pronounced over a few weeks. It is always my left. My right ear has also had things happen. I will get a muted sound breifly for a few seconds. Or a very high frequency like turning off an old boob tube television for a few seconds as well. That tuning fork on the left side is more pronounced and persistent. If I am at center hearing and everything is quiet I have a background white noise faint static. Now to my conclusion. I too am trying to find like individuals with these experiences to gain insight and meaning on the occurrences. Mine began after what I call my initial Twin Flame union. It was 3.5 years of turbulent energetic hellish exchange starting July 2018. The moment I locked eyes on him it was magnetic and familiar, he also told me he felt the same way. Within 2 weeks after intimacy and energetic exchange my heart began to hurt very bad. So bad to the point I felt I needed to probably see a doctor. It lasted 3 weeks straight in comparison to a hot hollow needle being pierced through my heart. It made it hard to breathe and finally dissipated. Since that initial pain I get random heart pangs now, palpitations, squeezes, throbs, stabs, jolts. I did a lot of research to find answers, and the only answer that resonated with me was that of the Heart Chakra Cord activation between a Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine Twin Flame. Going back through the relationship, it was so turbulent that I was triggered as was he via mirroring what each other needed to hear. I found out he is an Overt Narcissist with Sociopathic tendencies and I am a healing Covert Narcissist. It put me into a Dark Night of the Soul complete hell depression after about 3 years into the relationship. I couldn't move for months, I had zero energy. And if I was up I was in a psychosis rollercoaster up and down emotional rage. I had an Ego Death, a Kudalini Syndrome which was the bad version of a Kudalini awakening. Spontaneous loss of all self identity from the consistent triggering of my counterpart, hard but necessary. I had no foundation anymore, everything I believed or valued to be truth was now in a 180° flip and I questioned my own beliefs...my personal truth was challenged and researched everyday. After my Ego Death to rebirth (rebuilding my foundation of my own beliefs rather than my conditioned upbringing,) I was alleviated about 80% from my insecurities, anxiety and depression. (I still have them once in awhile, but not so much as to it controlling my life as it did since I was 13-32 years. That inner voice dialog was also gone, hence Ego Death. My Twin Flame (TF) and I did a final separation a year ago September 2021. It was hard, but again also necessary. Once removed from his energy I began to think clearer and process everything I couldn't because of all the turbulent energy. (Lots of research, to find out these unique situations that occurred.) These aren't readily available, and hardly talked about. Since the Kudalini activation. My Heart was the 1st Chakra to "come online" it is the center of the chakras and connects all. My root awakened and I began to feel a pulsing vibration in my butt much like a cellphone on vibrate in a back pocket. My throat opened and I began to be able to stand firm on my convictions and speak my truth without hesitation and reserve for other's feelings or personal beliefs. My Third eye Chakra activated like I said a few months ago and since then, I have had higher intuition, I am sharper at knowing things right before they play out, when it comes to other individuals. I can read a room and feel the energy of it. Tension, anxiety, fear, I can feel when other's lie to me. I take other people's energy on as my own and basically mirror it. As for the tuning fork, I came to my own understanding that it could be one of a few things. 1) I am hearing the strong energy cord connection to my TF counterpart, 2) My higher self coming into my aura downloading light codes, 3) or An ethric being/spirit guide. There is not much research on this and it most definitely is frustrating, because we want answers and it doesn't go away or if it does it comes back again. It may not resonate with you what I say, but I would have liked the guidance when I was in it for years of a big WTF is happening?! And daily research to find answers to these rare circumstances. How I also know I am connected to my TF energetically is, I will be having a decent day, no problems..boom all of the sudden a wave of extreme sorrow or panic anxiety will come across me as my own, no reason for it in my life...I know I'm feeling his emotions. When we were together and he lied to me, my body would tingle and I would have fire in my stomach instantly, like an internal knowing that the vibes weren't good. It was also confirmed on the time frame, because I journal every circumstance out of the ordinary, that my TF was going through a karmic breakup after me. His mother happened to come into my work after a year no contact with him or his family. She let me know he was cheating and leaving the person he dated and married right after me for 7 months and is now onto a new muse. Around that time it happened is when I had the out of breath panic attack anxiety and a 2 day complete crying depression I couldn't account for in my day to day life. During our 3.5 years I had multiple occasions of heart squeezes, stabs, palpitations. I asked him if he could feel it, he said no. I am aware that there is usually 1 awakened TF and the other awakens later. It's usually the Divine Feminine first because she is more spiritual then the Divine Masculine 3D physical Matrix Twin, he awakens after the DF does the initial inner work. Just the other day last week I found out we are Split Monadic Twin Flames. We are polar opposites, but need what the other has as a functional unit, that's what triggered us so much to awaken. All I know is, I have had plenty of relationships in past and this 1 in particular has had me reeling for answers ever since. Never felt these things with any other person.

I know I sound like a loon, but I stand firm on my beliefs and I only shared my experiences with you to hopefully bring you some insight to your life circumstances. Hopefully this opened some doors to your own research and personal understanding. I wish that was available when I went through it all alone without guidance. Hopefully you find the answer you are looking for.